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At Home Living: Moving your pet

Moving to a new home is one of life’s most stressful moments. This is true not only for the humans in the family, but also their pet companions. The sense of upheaval impacts our furry friends before, during and after the move.

The signs that an animal is under stress from a move “varies depending on the pet,” said Dr. Eric Tempel from the Animal Clinic of North Topeka. “Some animals are more sensitive than others.”

Some of the signs an animal is stressed out include:

■ Changes in behavior, such as hiding out more, acting fearful, or becoming more aggressive.

■ Diminished appetite.

■ Excessive grooming. Animals do this as a way of soothing their frayed nerves. Cats will sometimes pull hair out, and dogs may lick one spot until it becomes sore.

■ Inappropriate elimination. Sometimes animals who were once house broken no longer act that way. They don’t mean to misbehave. They are just fearful, and punishing them will only make the situation worse.

■ Obsessive-compulsive behavior, such as drinking a lot, vocalizing more, or excessive panting or pacing.

How to Help

As moving day approaches, the best way to keep your pet’s stress level low is by sticking to their regular daily routine. Continue to feed and walk them at their normal time. Plus, Dr. Tempel suggested, “Change their part of the home environment towards the end. Keep the stuff around that is familiar to them.”

Another good idea is to take your pet for a check-up. Make sure all vaccinations are up to date, and if the move is across state lines, owners need to get a health certificate from their vet and check out what vaccines are necessary in the new state. Dog owners should also check to be sure their pet’s breed is not banned in the new home area.

For a pet who is truly suffering from the stress, ask your vet about tranquilizers to help calm them down a bit. The vet can also provide medication for animal that experience motion sickness.

Perhaps the most important step is to make sure your pet has proper identification. The most common is a collar with an ID tag. Owners should be able to fit two fingers under the collar for a comfortable fit. Since cats jump and climb more than dogs, choose break-away collars for cats that slip-off easily if they get caught on something. Besides a tag, it is also a good idea to write your cell phone number on the actual collar material with a permanent marker incase the tag comes off.

While at the vet, consider having a microchip inserted into your pet. This small radio-frequency chip is the size of a grain of rice and injected just under the skin between the shoulder blades. Most shelters and veterinarians have scanners that can read the chip, which directs them to a central registry with the pet’s contact information. Microchip insertion is a relatively pain-free, five-minute procedure.

“A microchip is beneficial to any animal, especially if there is a risk of them getting loose or lost, as there would be during a move,” Dr. Tempel said. “The pet might flee, plus there are a lot of doors opening, which increases the risk of them getting loose.”

If the pet is not accustomed to riding in a car, drive them around town in the weeks before the move. Some may settle down after 10 to 20 minutes of driving, but others will continue to be agitated. Medication will help deal with the problem.

Moving Day

When the big day arrives, it is best to confine the pet to a quiet room in the house or inside a kennel at home to help them stay calm and keep them out from underfoot. The bathroom is a good choice since not much stuff needs to be moved out of that room. Place a sign on the door to remind everyone to keep the door closed. Another option is boarding the pet for a time at a kennel.

Bring along the pet’s regular food, water from the old home to help avoid diarrhea, the cat’s litter box, and their favorite blanket or a piece of clothing with the owner’s sent. For long-distance moves, look for pet-friendly hotels along the way, and check out the room before you let the animal loose. A frightened pet can crawl into spaces you would never think they could get in. The bathroom is often the best place to keep your pet for the night.

Once you arrive at the new home, continue to follow your pet’s normal routine as much as possible. Dogs usually adjust well as long as they are with their owner, but they may get stressed by the new noises or the new dogs on the other side of the fence. Cats adjust better if they are housed in a room all their own until they become familiar with the new space and sounds.